Abstract
The outbreak of infectious diseases affects people’s lifestyles significantly, as they undertake fewer outdoor activities as a protective measure and to follow government orders of restricted movements. This paper reviewed the scientific literature related to transport and infectious diseases to gain insights into managing such circumstances. The outcomes indicate that the transport sector has a two-fold role during the outbreak of infectious diseases: controlling the spread of infection and assessing the impact of reduced outdoor activities on the transport sector. It was found that local and international travel restrictions, if applied at the initial stages, are effective in controlling the spread of infectious disease; at a later stage, behavioral changes become prominent in limiting the spread. Further, the outbreaks resulted in a significant reduction in mobility, altering traffic patterns with lower peaks and improving traffic safety. The public transport mode share reduced considerably and people preferred cars and active modes. These changes also showed positive impacts on air pollution and water pollution. Further, the air transport and tourism sector were noted to be the hardest hit and will recover slowly. The outcomes from the review will be useful for planners and administrators in managing future emergency conditions better.
Highlights
Infectious diseases usually spread rapidly and affect a large number of people, disrupting daily activities of the majority of the population
Outbreaks of infectious diseases affect all modes/forms of transport, this paper focuses on road and air transport only, which are the main forms of passenger transport
Previous studies which explored the role of transport on other epidemics, such as influenza A/H1N1, SARS, and Ebola, explained that the road transport and socioeconomic status [30], railways, highways, and civil aviation [31], subway ridership [32], and air travel rate between cities [33] affected the spread of the disease significantly
Summary
Infectious diseases usually spread rapidly and affect a large number of people, disrupting daily activities of the majority of the population. These diseases create heath emergencies and are classified as pandemic or epidemic depending on their severity [1]. Feuxrtihceor, inexperienced an outbreak of a n20e1w2, tshtereapiindemoifc vMiErRuSs, acvailrlael drespInirafltouryendizseaasAe ca[u7s]e.d bDyuarnionvgel tcohreonfiavrirsuts yMeEaRrS,-CHoV1,N1 caused the appeared in Saudi Arabia Later, it spread over 27 countries, with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab death of 151,700Em–5ir7at5es,, a0n0d ptheeoRpepluebwlicoofrlKdowreaidbeein[g8t]h.e Swuorbsts-heiqt cuoeunnttrileys,[o9]n. The key aim of this paper is to review the scientific literature on the studies related to passenger transport and infectious diseases. The other forms of transport, such as freight transport and marine/water transport, are not studied and are out of the scope of this paper
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